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-F. A. WARDENBURG.

PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING FIBROUS ,MATERIALSAND PARTICULARLY euuconom. APPLICATION FILED DEC.H.19II.

1,355,197. v Patented 0ct.1 2,1920.

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Gu/z Ca/fa/z Pam J Tank NVENTOR I ATTORNEY fly/Inger F. A. WARDENBURG.

PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING FIBROUS MATERIALS AND PARTICULARLY GUNCOTTON. APPLICATION FILED DEC. II 'ISIT- 1,355,197. Patented Oct. 12,1920.

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Fade/gaff 501/6 a// Tank Co/d Wafer //y VEN TOR Qwz ATT HNEI J UNITED STATES PATENT oFFIcE.

FREDERIG A. WARDENBURG, or WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, ASSIGNOR To E. I. nu

ronr DE NEMOURS AND COMPANY, or WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, A CORPORA- 'IION OF DELAWARE.

PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING EIBROUS"MATERIAL$ AND PARTICULARLY GUN- COTTON.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 12, 1920.

Application filed December 11, 1917. Serial No. 206,710. v

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Fnnonnrc A. WARDEN- BURG, of Wilmington, in the county of New Castle, and in the State of Delaware, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Processes of Manufacturing Fibrous Materials and Particularly Guncotton, and do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

The object of my invention has been to provide a process of manufacturing fibrous materials, and particularly guncotton, which shall have among others the advantages of saving very short fibrous material which has heretofore been wasted by being discharged in the wash water; of saving a relatively large amount of fresh water heretofore required, and of effecting the savings without harm from but on the other hand eliminating dirt, such as cinders, dust, etc., and to such ends my invention consists in the process of manufacturingfibrous materials and particularly guncotton hereinafter specified.

My invention is capable of practice in many different ways and by the use of various forms of apparatus; and while I havechosen for the purpose of illustrating it the best embodiment of it known to me, such embodiment is to be considered as typical only and my invention is not to be confined thereto.

In the accompanying drawings Figures 1 and 2 are parts of a connected diagrammatic representation of the apparatus for the practice of my process.

The apparatus of the said drawing is specially adapted for the manufacturing of guncotton. In the said apparatus cotton fiber is nitrated in a dipper tank 1 by any well known method with the details of which my invention is not concerned. dipper tank the cotton passes by a pipe 2 to a centrifugal Wringer 3 where the gun cotton formed by the nitration of the cotton fiber is relieved of as much of the acid used in nitration as can be eliminated by centrifugal action. From the wringer the guncotton is 1 elimination of the acid remaining in the sion of steam into the water.

From the guncotton. the wringer passes by a pipe 3 to a spent acid filter 3 lVhatever cotton fiber that is carried with the spent acid is removed from the filter and placed in an immersion basin 3 supplied by fresh water from a pipe 3, and the cotton is carried by the water down into the pipe 6. From the basin 4 the guncotton passes through pipes 5 and 6 to pump tank 7 from which it is delivered by a pump 8 to a trough 9 leading to a boiling tub 10. In the boiling tub 10 most of the acid is eliminated and several hot water washes are given, each one followed by several hours boiling produced by the admis- Several cold water washes are also given. After each wash the water is drained from the cotton, which rests on a false bottom in the tub, into a waste water trough .11 which discharges the acid water into a sewer. The guncotton is then transported, as by a car 12, to a beater engine 13 and from the beater engine transferred by a pipe 14 to a stuff tank 15, which latter has a pipe 16 that is connected with a Jordan engine 17. If desired, the beater engine may be omitted, and the guncotton transferred directly to the Jordan engine. This engine has a circulation pipe 18 leading back to the tank 15 so that the pulp can be run continuously from the tank through the engine and back again until. it has been sufficiently treated. The operation of the beater engine and the Jordan engine is to finely pulp the guncotton. In the beater engine a certain amount of washing is done by adding fresh water, as by means of a pipe 18 and the excess water is removed by a rotating screen 19 in the usual way, water being sucked into the interior of the screen through the sieves which form its periphery and being carried out through a hollow ournal in the screen, the water being discharged into a pipe 20 flowing to a cold tank 2l'which T have called the cold saveall tank. This water carries away a certain amount of finely pulped guncotton. After the guncotton is sufliciently pulped in the Jordan engine it is caused by a pump. 22 to pass through pipes 23 and 24 to a poacher tub 25 in which the finalpurification is given. Several washes and boilings with The spent acid eliminated by' acting as a filter bed.

fresh cold Water and fresh hot water are given in this tub, as required. A small amount of soda is here added to neut'alize any possible remaining acid. After each wash in the poacher tub the guncotton is allowed to settle and the water decanted off by one of two swinging decanting pipes 26 or 27. This water carries off finely divided particles of guneotton which run together with the water from the beater engines, the water from the decanting pipe 26 to the cold save-all tank 21 and the water from the decanting pipe 27 to a hot save-all tank 28.

After the poaching operation is completed the guncotton is screened, blended and packed for shipment. As it is unnecessary to go into these subsequent operations for the purpose of this invention, they will not be described.

In the save-all tanks a certain amount of the fine guncotton carried away from the beater engines and poaching tubs settles out and this cot-ton is blended in with the finished guncotton. However, the water heretofore discharged from these save-all tanks to the sewer still carried finely divided particles of guncotton to a very importa extent and the loss of this guncotton he fore has resulted in the loss of very large value in the aggregate. It is one of the objects of my invention to prevent this loss.

I have, as described, provided two saveall tanks, one for hot water from the poacher tub and one for cold water, each with its own decanting pipe, as I desire to use the water from these tanks and it is necessary to keep the hot water and cold water separate as some of the water is to be used in the drowning basin 4: and the mixture of the hot and cold water coming from the poacher tank would result in water too warm for use in the said basin.

The water from the cold save-all tank 21 is delivered by pump 29 through pipes 30 and 31 to a storage tank 32 and from this tank water is drawn by pipe 83 for drowning the guncotton in the immersion basin 4. This tank also has a fresh water supply 35 to make up any deficiency not provided by the save-all system. This drowning water carrying the save-all cotton passes with the cottonto the boiling tub 10, in which the save-all cotton is caught and held by the body of guncotton, the latter The result is that very little of the save-all cotton escapes into the sewer 11 from the boiling tub, almost all of it being saved and being delivered in the final product from the apparatus. The water from the hot save-all tank together with the guncotton carried by it is delivered by a pump 36 through pipes 37 and 38 to an elevated storage tank 39. This water may, if preferred, be run directly to the sewer. This tank, through a pipe 40, supplies the necessary hot water for the boiling tub, any deficiency in hot water being made up by a fresh supply of hot water through a pipe 41 from the hot water heater 42. This hot water from the .tank 39 carries the finely divided particles of guncotton from the hot save-all tank on to the boiling tub, where, as before described the mass of longer fibered guncotton acts as a filter and retains almost all of the smaller particles, so that as this water passes out through the trough 11 to the sewer, it is practically free from guncotton. Hot water for the poaching tub is supplied by a hot water tank l3 connected with the hot water heater by a pipe 44 and with the poaching tub by pipe 45.

My invention has been practiced on a commercial scale and has been found to possess the following advantages: A relatively very large amount of finely pulped guncotton which formerly was wasted by being discharged into the sewer with the waste water from the save-all tanks, is saved. This guncotton has practically the same characteristics as the guncotton manufactured and is to all intents and purposes of the same quality as far as the manufacture of smokeless powder is concerned.

Not only is the finely pulped guncotton saved which has heretofore been discharged into the sewer with the waste water, but the use of the main mass of nitrocellulose as the medium or filter bed by which the said finely pulped guncotton is filtered out and saved is a very great advantage, for this filter bed is material which is constantly going through the plant and constantly being renewed in the ordinary course of operation. The expense of cleaning a filter bed and keeping it in condition is therefore avoided, and this expense in any filter bed heretofore used has been prohibitive, because such previous filter beds clog so quickly that the expense of cleaning them is very great. In my process, before the filter bed becomes clogged up, it is taken away in the ordinary course of manufacture, with the guncotton held back by it, and a new filter bed takes its place without any additional cost whatever.

A large amount of fresh water which is required in the drowning of the guncotton in the drowning basin and in the hot water washes in the boiling tubs is saved. This fresh water is replaced by the water which before was wasted.

Dirt such as cinders, dust, etc, is unavoidably found in the cotton to be nitrated and has heretofore appeared in the save all tanks and it had been feared that returning the water from these tanks to the various parts of the system and thus re-introducing the dust into the guncotton being treated would result in the dust appearing in the final product. This, however, has not been found to be the case and it is believed that this dirt is removed by the chemical action of the acidulated water.

The saving resulting from these three advantages of my invention has amounted to a large amount of money per month where guncotton is being manufactured on a big scale.

What I claim is:

1. The process of treating fibrous materials comprising treating a mass of such materials with a liquid and filtering substantially all of said liquid through the mass of fibrous material being treated to retain the small particles'of fiber which would otherwise be lost.

2. The process of treating fibrous materials comprising treating a mass of such materials with a liquid, purifying said liquid of chemicals, and filtering substantially all of said liquid through the mass of fibrous material being treated to retain the small particles of fiber which would otherwise be lost.

3. The process of treating fibrous materials comprising treating a mass of such materials with a liquid, beating said materials, and filtering substantially all of said liquid through the mass of fibrous material being treated to retain the small particles of fiber which would. otherwise be lost.

1. The process of treating fibrous materials comprising treating a mass of such materials with a liquid, beating said materials, purifying said liquid of chemicals, and filtering substantially all of said liquid through the mass of fibrous material being treated to retain the small particles of fiber which would otherwise be lost.

5. The process or" treating guncotton comprising boiling the gun cotton, washing it, and filtering the wash water through a mass 01" guncotton.

6. The process of treating guncotton com prising boiling the guncotton, pulping it and filtering the wash water, from pulping, through a mass of guncotton.

7. The process of treating guncotton comprising pulping the guncotton and filtering the wash water from the pulping operation through a mass of guncotton.

8. T he process of treating guncotton comprising pulping and washing guncotton, and filtering the wash water through a mass of guncotton.

9. The process of treating guncotton comprising pulping and washing guncotton and filtering the wash water from said operations through unpulped guncotton.

10'. The process of treating guncotton comprising drowning, pulping and washing guncotton and returning the wash water from the latter operation to the drowning apparatus.

11. The process of treating guncotton comprising drowning, boiling, pulping and washing guncotton and returning the waste water from the latter operation to the boiling vessel.

12. The process of treating guncotton comprising drowning, boiling, pulping and washing guncotton and returning the waste water from the latter operation to the drowning and boiling vessels.

13. The process of treating guncotton comprising drowning and pulping the guncotton and washing the pulped guncotton separately with hot and cold water and returning the cold wash water to the drowning apparatus.

14. The process of treating guncotton comprising drowning, boiling and pulping the guncotton, washing the pulped guncotton with hot and cold water, and returning the hot wash Water to the boiling vessel and the cold wash water to the drowning apparatus.

15. The process of treating guncotton comprising drowning, boiling and pulping guncotton, washing the pulped guncotton separately with hot and cold water and return ing the cold wash water to the drowning apparatus and filtering the hot wash water through the mass of unpulped guncotton in the boiling vessel.

16. The process of treating guncotton, com

prising boiling the guncotton, washing it,

and filtering the wash water through the main mass of guncotton.

17. The process of treating guncotton, comprising continuously and progressively boiling the guncotton, washing it, and filtering the wash water through the main mass of guncotton.

18. The process of treating guncotton, comprising washing the guncotton, filtering the wash water through a mass of guncotton, and replacing said mass by a fresh mass of guncotton, and continuing the operation.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand.

FREDERIU A. WARDENBURG.

Witnesses EVERETT Gr. ACKART, HARRY W. Noon. 

